Juicy Lucy burgers
The Minneapolis burger with the cheese sealed inside, so every bite runs molten.
- 35 min total
- 25 min hands-on
- Follow-a-recipe easy
- Serves 4
- About $2.05 a serving
- 460 calories
Dolly says: Read the steps once before you start. Everything goes smoother after that.
Ingredients
For 4 servings.
- 1 lb 85/15 ground beef
- 4 slices American cheese slices
- 4 hamburger buns
- 2 dill pickles, sliced
- ½ white onion, thinly sliced (optional)
From your pantry
- 1 tsp salt
- ½ tsp black pepper
- ½ tsp garlic powder
Each serving has about 460 calories, 30 g protein, 27 g carbs and 25 g fat, and costs about $2.05 at typical US grocery prices. Both are estimates from what the recipe uses.
Missing something?
- No 85/15 ground beef? 90/10 ground beef works.
Steps
Tap an underlined word for a quick explanation.
Divide the beef into 8 equal pieces and flatten each into a thin 4-inch patty.
Food safety: Wash your hands, the board and the knife with hot soapy water after touching raw meat, and don’t rinse raw chicken in the sink.
Fold each cheese slice into quarters to make a small stack, and set one in the middle of 4 of the patties.
Lay the other 4 patties on top and pinch the edges firmly all the way around to seal.
Dolly’s tip: Cup each burger in your hands and smooth the seam with your thumbs. Any gap lets the cheese escape in the pan.Stir the salt, pepper and garlic powder together and sprinkle over both sides.
Heat a large over medium and cook the burgers 5 to 6 minutes, until underneath.
Skillet. A skillet is a frying pan: wide and flat with low, sloped sides. The shape lets steam escape, so food browns instead of stewing.
How you’ll know: It’s the pan you’d fry an egg in, and a 10 or 12 inch one handles most recipes.
Brown. Browning means cooking until the outside turns brown, which is where a lot of savory flavor comes from. Give food room and time without stirring, or it steams and stays gray.
How you’ll know: The food looks brown rather than gray, and the kitchen smells toasty and savory.
Medium heatTimer: 5 min 30 sec
Dolly’s tip: Medium heat gives the cheese time to melt before the outside overcooks.Flip and cook 5 to 6 minutes more, until they read 160°F in the meat near the edge.
Medium heatTimer: 5 min 30 sec
Dolly’s tip: Test near the edge, not the center. The middle is cheese, and poking it lets it all run out.Food safety: Ground beef, pork and lamb are done at 160°F. When it’s cooked through there’s no pink left anywhere in the pan.
Let them 2 minutes, then serve on buns with pickles and onion.
Rest. Resting means letting cooked meat sit for a few minutes before you cut it. It keeps cooking gently, and more of the juice stays in the meat instead of running onto the board.
How you’ll know: Loosely covered with foil, it stays hot, and very little juice runs out when you slice it.
Timer: 2 min
Dolly’s tip: The cheese inside is molten. Warn yourself before the first bite.
Plan this in Dollop, and get the grocery list
Dollop puts this dinner on a night that suits your week, lists only what you still need to buy, and walks you through each step while you cook.
